Further experimental evidences of the compatibility of poly(vinyl acetate) with poly(ethyl methacrylate) and its dependence on the ratio of the molecular weight of the two homopolymers

Abstract

AbstractUsing various fractions of poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) of very narrow molecular weight distribution, a very wide range of 2–120 of molecular weight ratio M¯ν PEMA/M¯ν PVAc, (M¯ν)r was obtained. Studies of some tensile mechanical properties of films of the blends produced from solution on mercury confirmed strong dependence of the improvements of PVAc properties for blend with 18% PEMA on (M¯ν)r, especially in the range 5 ≤ (M¯ν)r < 100. The density of the films of the blend was much higher than those of the individual polymers and increased monotonically with (M¯ν)r. Optical micrographs of the films of the blends showed interactions between the two polymers with 18% PEMA composition, which appears to be more intimate as (M¯ν)r increases, as further evidence of compatibility and miscibility of the two polymers.